Wccftech's Reviews
With its great atmosphere and tight story pacing, Alan Wake 2: The Lake House retains the same elements that made the base game so engaging. The lack of significant new mechanics and its very short length, however, make it a worthwhile purchase only for the most die-hard fans of Alan Wake 2 and the Remedy Connected Universe.
One of Akitoshi Kawazu's most experimental titles from the Super Famicom, Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven shows that a classic JRPG can be given a complete overhaul to turn into something brand new while still retaining its unique quirks and charm.
Europa looks to offer a meditative experience, as you explore gorgeous vistas backed up by an outstanding soundtrack, and it can offer this, only it is piecemeal. Far too often it trips itself up by killing the traversal and exploration, and throwing things at you that are never challenging, and only annoying,
Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO is undeniably one of the best games based on Akira Toriyama's series. With an engaging story mode that includes intriguing what-if scenarios, a combat system that's easy to learn but challenging to master, a massive character roster, and impressive attention to detail, Spike Chunsoft has created a must-have for Dragon Ball fans. If you've ever wanted to be Goku and scream your heart out before unleashing secret techniques, this is the game for you.
Super Mario Party Jamboree doesn’t bring anything overly surprising to this well-worn series, and not every mode and minigame will put you in a festive mood, but overall, the game offers plenty to celebrate. Jamboree may not entice those who have had their fill of Nintendo’s shindigs, but those still down for a good button-mashing bash should appreciate just how much they’ve stuffed into this goodie bag.
Ys X Nordics stands as one of the best entries in the series, second only to the excellent YS VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana. With a cast of charming characters, an engaging story, and fast-paced action gameplay powered by some interesting mechanics that force players to balance offense and defense, the franchise by Falcom has taken a decisive step forward, delivering a highly polished and satisfying experience.
No matter how much I engaged with the core fundamentals of Metaphor: ReFantazio, I couldn’t escape the feeling that this was largely Persona 6 by another name rather than some new IP that could stand on its own merits.
The Starfield Shattered Space expansion leaves a lot to be desired. While it introduces a more focused and engaging story compared to the base game, the average map and quest design, along with the lack of new features, turn the adventure in Va'Ruun'kai into a bit of a slog rather quickly. Although the tighter focus is welcome, the Starfield experience as a whole needs something more substantial to reach its full potential.
Silent Hill 2 is the best game Bloober Team has made. A faithful reimagining of the original, bringing it to the modern day without losing what made the original the best horror game ever, using modern game mechanics to improve where they could, and expanding on what was already an engrossing world. Without any shadow of a doubt, a resounding success, one that will likely come as a surprise to many.
Diablo IV Vessel of Hatred is a solid expansion that is perhaps not heavy on content but more than makes up for it with many systemic changes that will elevate the whole game for years to come.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom brings some new ideas to the table, but in the end, the game is more about modernizing the classic 2D Zelda experience. The attention-grabbing echo copying mechanic has its pros and cons, but where Echoes of Wisdom consistently hits is in the tried-and-true design of its world and dungeons, which are as good as any the franchise has delivered in the past. This may be Zelda's first starring adventure, but past Legends still echo strongly here.
Disney's Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is a solid remaster that enhances the original experience with some nice improvements. Unfortunately, the experience is still carried by the setting exploring Disney's forgotten history, as the remaster does little to address dated level design, lackluster combat, and underdeveloped features like the morality system. Despite these shortcomings, Mickey's journey in the Wasteland remains enjoyable, especially for hardcore Disney fans eager to see some of the company’s long-forgotten characters brought back to life.
Ara: History Untold is a highly ambitious 4X game that looks to branch out and add even more depth to an already detailed genre. In many ways, it succeeds, bringing in a map and city-building system that far surpasses others in the genre and successfully interlinking practically every area. However, with some successes come issues, with the added depth in the supply chain making it a bit of a micromanagement nightmare; it tries to alleviate some of these issues with a user-friendly UI, but it could be a sticking point for some. The AI also seems to go on the fritz and break the game's rules.
Frostpunk is an excellent looking, excellent sounding, and great playing organic growth and succession from the original. Spreading further along the wasteland, you have to balance more as you deal with politics, resources, factions, and ever more challenges, often including settling and building in new areas. Still a challenge, but more approachable, this is yet another city builder that will shine out amongst others.
Although the game was a lot of fun and I enjoyed the actual gameplay elements of it, the story just didn't grab me. Initially, I was also deterred by the massively contrasting art styles and the finicky menus. Overall, the game is a pleasant experience, appropriate for gamers of all ages. If the story had some more flashy dramatics, it may have pulled me in earlier. The Plucky Squire is very evidently a product made with a lot of love, and you can tell that from the level of polish it has.
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is a solid remaster that enhances the original game with some welcome gameplay and quality-of-life improvements that go a long way to make the experience more enjoyable than ever. However, the remaster falters in the visual department, with dull colors that pale in comparison to the vibrant visuals of the original. Still, there's plenty to like in the Deluxe Remaster, as Frank West's journey to Willamette remains as engaging as ever, though the mostly faithful recreation of the original gameplay feels a little dated compared to its sequels.
Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown offers some solid fundamentals in terms of driving mechanics and course design, to the point the game might have been worth a qualified recommendation despite its surprisingly-bland recreation of Hong Kong, so-so visuals, and spotty performance, but ultimately, the game’s egregious always-online requirements make that impossible. Persistent server issues and a completely unreliable cloud save system send this racer careening off-track and it’s going to take some serious elbow grease to get this Solar Crown shining like it ought to.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a decent game, but one that becomes repetitive quite quickly, though fans of this sort of action combat could find it enjoyable.
The MARVEL vs. CAPCOM Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics is a fantastic celebration of the series, showcasing some of the best fighting games released by the Japanese publisher in the late '90s and early 2000s. Although the lack of cross-platform play reduces the collection's appeal, the additional options and extras are welcome enhancements that make playing these timeless classics on modern hardware even more enticing, especially on consoles.
As one of the few platformers to keep me grinning from beginning to end, Astro Bot is some of the most fun I've had working on a review all year. There's a profound sense of whimsy and wonder to everything that plucky little robot can do while the worlds he visits inhabit such a diverse set of environments and abilities. Astro Bot's adventure still may be far from over, but this time he's brought a few hundred friends along for the journey.